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Audiophiles on Audiogon.

During my time here, I have found some of you to be too opinionated - like your life depends upon what you think about audio gear. Holding on to one’s beliefs a bit too tightly is bad for the soul.

I was reading some content on the Ken Rockwell website, and then found an article entitled: "What is an audiophile?"

in the article, Ken says: Audiophiles are non-technical, non-musical kooks who imagine the darnedestly stupid things about audio equipment. Audiophiles are fun to watch; they’re just as confused at how audio equipment or music really works as primitive men like cargo cults are about airplanes.

 

Given my time on this forum and a few others, I have found his statements to be true. I mean, if you have an amplifier that costs say, $10,000, and you buy cables for $20,000, is that really going to improve the sound? (make the stereo image more accurate)

Or on the otherside, if you buy an amplifier for $1000 and then go buy the top of the line audioquest cables costing tens of thousands of dollars, then would the sound improve accordingly? After reading some of their literature, I cannot be sure they have an understanding of how electricrity works, much less the intricate details involving high-end audio systems.

And then we have power conditioning to consider. I have done extensive research online and it turns out that if your gear is really "high-end" it should already have a device inside that filters the incoming AC. Therefore, do you really need a power conditioner?

I learned about PS Audio products being spec-ed much higher than their measured performance. This is also true of the audio "power plants" that cost thousands of dollars. No really, tons of money to "regenerate" power with little to no sonic benefits.

Would love to hear what you guys think about these findings.

 

Oh, and high-end DACs?

This thing will outperform all your fancy gear.

jackhifiguy
dreas's avatar
dreas
86 posts
 

At the end of the day I fall back on Hans Beekhuyzen's closing remark on all his YouTube reviews, "And whatever you do, enjoy the music". If you have a small circle of audiophiles (by which I mean folks who love music, love to actively listen, enjoy finding equipment that suits their room, budget, and preferences) with whom you can share tunes, ideas, and have a love for the hobby (or whatever you call it), then ignore the areas that are way beyond your budget, interest, or in my case, ears. I've learned a lot from friends and a few YouTube folks that aren't shilling and want to help. Some drive Fords, Chevys, Toyotas, Mercedes, Lincolns, Audis, and Bentleys. So find whatever you can afford and enjoy! And yes, there are many "interesting" folks in these forums. Don't let them bring you down!

bigkidz
3,387 posts
 

Price has nothing to do with performance, sound quality, build quality, design, etc.  

I have mentioned this before, we have a listening room in Northern New Jersey.  Please feel free to bring your $720 DAC over to see if you can hear a difference, or anything else you feel you would like to see if you can hear any differences.

Happy Listening.

rdk777's avatar
rdk777
572 posts
 

Sour grapes.

russ69's avatar
russ69
3,516 posts
 

unless you listened to both, without the knowledge of which one you were listening to at any point in time...

Blind testing is a failed concept. Long term evaluation is the gold standard in equipment review. Lots of hours, lots of different music, many attempts at optimization. Any short-term test is prone to error vs a complete and full evaluation. 

realworldaudio
174 posts
 

I used to read Ken Rockwell's reviews on camera bodies and lenses, I think he did a pretty good job there. (I have not read his site in many years though, so don't know what he's up to nowdays.)

However, picturing audiophiles as people who buy 20K$ cables for 1K$ amplifiers is the equivalent of picturing photographers as kooks buying multi K$ optics for disposable cameras. Need not say more on that matter and the distorted optics implied....

Despite the fun caricatures often painted of audiophiles one thing is true. Every audiophile (I know of) is emotionally heavily attached to his stereo equipment, or in other words, to the way his stereo equipment portrays sound and music. As a result they can be (and are) often quite abrasive and intolerant of folks who prefer sound portrayed through different means. This more often than not ends up in verbal abuse on forums.

I'd say regardless of how how audiophiles express themselves, every audiophile feels PASSIONATELY about sound and music. Those with more experience are able to express themselves as adults, being respecful of their fellow human beings, and while others care more about their own love of gear than about experiencing the rest of the world.

Let's suck it up. It's life. This happens everywhere, is not limited to audiophiles.

Just look at the camera / optics world. That world also has their hardcore fans, and we can mock them or not. I decide not to mock, and allow them to be passionate about what matters to them. One aspect or passion or pursuit might be meaningless to you, yet it means a lot to another human being..... this is the cornerstone of all human experience, and the driving force behind art, diversity, and discovery.

 

 

 

 

 

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